As part of the preparations for the Academy’s Tour of Australia, the squad took part in a communication and leadership workshop that was led by Eddie Burke, Performance Manager for the ECB.
Under the watchful eyes of player mentor Eric Chisnall and Academy coach Ste Marsh the players were taken through series of exercises that looked to develop their teamwork skills through effective listening and communication techniques.
“The ECB is regularly putting touring teams together and they have short periods of time to integrate them into an effective team and tour party,” Player Performance Manager Neil Kilshaw said. “Through the expertise of Eddie we wanted to tap into their experience as we were looking for additional methods to gel together players from two age groups in order to hit the ground running.
“Having input from a different sport really gave things a different perspective and we are extremely grateful to him for spending his valuable time to assist our preparations.”
Tourist Ben Sims said: “The workshop was very useful in enhancing our leadership and listening skills so we can adapt it to our performance in a game.
“It helped me understand how to communicate with others while on the pitch and brought all the lads more together as one.”
Evan Bullen agreed: “I think the session was very beneficial for the whole team as it showed us how important team work and communication is.
“It showed we can do when we communicate properly and I also think it brought us closer together as a group which will be massive for the tour.”